Floor construction



7 Aug. 2 6, 1941. A. B. RICE FLOOR CONSTRUCTION l HH HHHHI I l h l HflH'l l l lHH .HHI I I I I UU IW ed Feb. '26, 1940 Fil ; INVENTOR flLLY/v 5. 21c:

ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 26, 1941 um'rao STATES PATENT OFFICE FLOOR CONSTRUCTION Allyn B. Rice, Lo: Angeles, Gall! asslgnor to A. B. Rice Floor Company, Los Angel cum, a cor-' pontlon of California Application February at, 1940, serial-no. 320,801

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struction, such as concrete, turf, sand or joists;

which raises the floor level a minimum amount, as is an important advantage in installations having limited door height and ceiling clearances;

and which has azbeautiful finished and jointless appearance comparable to a high quality permanent floor of the pattern type.

Another object of the invention is to provide a portable floor of the above described general character in which the floor sections are built up in a manner to be extremely rigid, and yet are of a minimum thickness so as to minimize weight and thus facilitate handling of the sections, as well as reduce transportation costs.

A further object of the invention is to provide a portable floor in which the floor sections are constructed with a novel detachable connection insuring and maintaining an absolutely accurate joint between sections which is unaffected by temperature changes, and which is undetectable from joints in parts of the floor section forming a predetermined pattern thereon, whereby the floor will have the finished appearance of a permanent installation.

With these and other objects in view, the invention resides in the combinations, arrangements and functional relationshipsof elements set forth in the following specification and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 is a plan view of a number of floor sections assembled to form the fioor embodying this invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of a typical floor section;

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the floor section;

Figure 4 isan enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure l to illustrate the novel joint construction between floor sections;

it being understood that in practice these joints are undetectable and cannot be distinguished from the individualpieces making up a parquet or other continuous pattern throughout the area of the floor.

Each floor section F comprises a sub-floor or base panel l0, preferably constructed of plywood, on which is secured by nails or other fastening means, the pieces I2 making up the parquet design and forming the finish panel l3. For the purposeof illustration, a simple design of alternating-longitudinal and transverse rectangularly shaped tongue-and-groove pieces laid in rows to form squares, is illustrated, but it will be under-'- stood that any other suitable design can be em-- ployed instead.

A thin layer of floor mastic It or similar substance is first applied to the base panel l0 and the pieces secured to the base panel by nails [5 driven into the latter and by-screws l6 driven from the base panel into the pieces I! around the edges of the floor section as shown in Figure 3.

This operation is most easilyperformed in a suitable jig (not shown) which relates the finish panel and base panel so that one longitudinal edge and one transverse edge of the latter project beyond the corresponding edges of the finish pane1 l3, asindicated at H, and the other longitudinal and transverse edges of the finish panel complementarily project beyond the corresponding edges of the base panel ID as indicated at l8. Thus, when the floor sections are assembled, as shown in Figures 1 and 4, the finish panels i3 of the sections overlap the base panels of adjacent floor sections, with the edges of the finish panels tightly abutting when the edges of the base panels are clear of each other as shown at 19 in Figure 4, so as-to insure that the finish 46 panels can be brought into abutting relation.

The vertical edges of those pieces I! which form the longitudinal and transverse edges of the finish panels I! are provided-with grooves 20 which receive metal splines 2| permanently seated in the grooves of those longitudinal and transverse edges of the panels l3 beyond which project the corresponding edges of the base panels.

Thus, one longitudinal edge and one transverse edge of each floor section carries a spline 2| 50, which is tightly and detachably received in the staggered joints J and J, as shown in Figure 1,

groove of the abutting edge of the next section when the sections are assembled. The splines 20 positivelyprevent any misalignment of the sections at the joints therebetween and insure that there can be no relative vertical displacement between the sections when the fioor is in service and is subjected to variable and/or moving loads.

In an installation utilizing an under construction composed of joists 25 resting on a solid foundation such as a concrete fioor or solid ground, the joists are first arranged in parallelism at predetermined distances apart with certain joists disposed to support the edges of abutting fioor sections as shown in Figures 1 and 4, so as to enable the floor sections to be secured to the joists by wood screws 26 driven through the projecting portions ll of the base panels III of the sections into the joists in the manner shown in Figure 4.

In the event that joists are not desirable, the fioor sections can be assembled on kiln dried sand 21 which is screeded and leveled on any suitable solid foundation 28. In this event, it is necessary that the fioor be surrounded by walls 29 of a room or by a suitable frame on the ground so as to enable the sections to be confined against separation by suitable wedges 30 or other means between the edges of the border sections and the room walls or enclosing frame. I

With either construction, it will be manifest that the portable flooring embodying this invention provides for a minimum loss of headroom in a building by the relatively thin and structurally strong built-up floor sections coacting by means of the novel construction between sections to form a smooth continuous patterned floor surface in which the joints between sections are undistinguishable from the joints between pieces composing the pattern so that the floor will have the appearance of a high quality permanent installation.

Furthermore, the floor can be easily disassembled, and its individual sections salvaged rre-arranged to distribute the wear over all sections in installations in which tramc is heavier on one portion of the floor than on another,

thus greatly increasing the useful life of the floor.

What is claimed is:

1. A portable fioor comprising a plurality of floor sections each composed of a base panel and a finish panel provided with parquetry patterns, the base panel having certain edges projecting beyond the corresponding edges of the finish panel, the latter of which has other edges projecting beyond the corresponding edges of the base panel to provide a lap joint between the base and finish panels of confronting sections, and a butt joint between the finish panels thereof which is undistinguishable from the joints between the pieces of the parquetry patterns,

whereby the sections will have the appearance of a continuous patterned floor; and means co-acting with the edge portions of confronting finish panels to detachably connect them against relative lateral displacement.

2. A portable floor comprising a plurality of fioor sections each composed of a base panel and a finish panel provided with parquetry patterns, the base panel having certain edges projecting beyond the corresponding edges of the finish panel, the latter of which has other edges projecting beyond the corresponding edges of the base panel to provide a lap joint between the base and finish panels of confronting sections, and a butt joint between the finish panels thereof which is indistinguishable from the joints between the pieces of the parquetry patterns, whereby the sections will have the appearance 01 a continuous patterned floor; the edges of the finish panels having co-incident mating grooves and splines in said grooves co-acting therewith to detachably connect the floor sections against relative lateral displacement.

3. A portable fioor comprising a. plurality of floor sections each composed of a base panel and a. finish panel provided with parquetry patterns, the base panel having certain edges projecting beyond the corresponding edges of the finish panel, the latter of which has other edges projecting beyond the corresponding edges of the base panel to provide a lap joint between the base and finish panels of confronting sections, and a butt joint between the finish panels thereof which is indistinguishable from the joints between the pieces of the parquetry patterns, whereby the sections will have the appearance of a continuous patterned floor; means co-acti'ng with the edge portions of confronting finish panels to detachably connect them against'relative lateral displacement; joists providing an under construction supporting the floor sections and being spaced so that certain joists support the edge portions of the sections; and fastening members extending through said projecting edges of the base panels and into the joists to secure the fioor sections thereto.

4. A portable floor comprising a plurality of floor sections each composed of a base panel and a finish panel provided with parquetry patterns, the base panel having certain edges projecting beyond the corresponding edges of the finish panel, the latter of which has other edges projecting beyond the corresponding edges of the base panel to provide a lap joint between the base and finish panels of confronting sections, and a butt joint between the finish panels thereof which is indistinguishable from the joints between the pieces of ,the parquetry patterns, whereby the sections will have the appearance of a continuous patterned floor; means co-acting with the edge portions of confronting finish panels to detachably connect them against relative lateral displacement; a layer ,of kiln-dried sand on which the fioor sections'are laid within an area bounded by walls; and members co-acting with the edges of the border floor sections and adapted to co-act with the boundary walls in confining the sections against separation at their joints.

5. A portable floor comprising a plurality of rectangular floor sections each composed of a base panel and a parquetry patterned finish panel, the base panel having a longitudinal edge and a transverse edge projecting beyond the corresponding edges of the finish panel, the latter of which has its other two edges projecting beyond the corresponding edges of the base panel to provide a lap joint between the base and finish panels of confronting sections, and a butt joint between the finish panels thereof which is indistinguishable from the joints between the pieces of the parquetry patterns, whereby the sections will have the appearance of a continuous patterned floor; and means for confining the sections against separation at the joints thereof.

6. In a portable floor, a floor section comprising a rectangular base panel; a rectangular finish panel composed of pieces arranged in a parquetry design; means for securing the pieces to the base panel in parquetry formation and including fastening members extending through the base panel into those pieces forming the outer edge of the finish panel; the finish panel finish panelfmeans securing the finish panel to i being secured to the base panel with two adjacent edges of the latter projecting beyond the comof certain edges projecting the base panel with two adjacent edges of the latter projecting beyond the corresponding edges of the finish panel, and with the other two edges of the latter projecting beyondrthe corresponding edges of the finish panel to provide for a combination lap and butt Joint between fioor sections when assembled; the outer edges of the finish panel having grooves adapted to receive splines to connect the floor section to others having such grooves in the edges thereof.

ALLYN B. RICE. 

